Publisher: Chapman & Hall, 193, Piccadilly, London, 1875. First edition. Printers: Bradbury, Agnew & Co., Whitefriars, London. Hard cover, with tinted frontispiece and a folding map at the back. Original publisher’s cloth, in very good condition, with black lettering and design on the cover and gilt lettering on the spine (see photos, as these form part of the description). Very clean copy. Adventure travel books were hugely popular in the 18th and 19th centuries, with tales of exploration, wonder and adventure. Many of these books were largely factual records of true voyages of discovery. Many others, though, were fictional tales of adventure in exotic locales, a genre that began, perhaps, with Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, published in 1719, and gained in popularity in the 19th century with such classics as Wyss’ Swiss Family Robinson (1812) and Ballantyne’s Coral Island (1858). Most of these tales were openly and unashamedly fictional, but a small number masqueraded as factual records. This book is one such masquerade, the only one we know of about travel in New Guinea, written in the popular narrative strategy of ‘naturalist realism’ as described by Chris Ballard in ‘The Art of Encounter: Verisimilitude in the Imaginary Exploration of Interior New Guinea, 1725-1876’ (DOI: 10.22459/OE.07.2009.08). As such, it has been recognised as an important part of our cultural heritage – see descriptions of this book at Goodreads.com and Dymocks.com.au; and an interesting review from the Edinburgh Review, Vol. CSLII, No. CCXC (1875), reproduced in the National Library of Australia’s Trove website at nla.gov.au/nla.0bj-79409467, of the sights and feats described by J.A. Lawson. This recognition of the book’s value is reflected in the book having been republished in a number of facsimile editions in the early 21st century (e.g. by Kolthoff Press, in paperback, in 2010; Forgotten Books, in paperback, in 2018; and by Wentworth Press, in hard cover, in 2019). This rare First Edition copy is a fascinating and highly collectible example of its genre. Condition of the book: Very good condition; original publisher’s cloth, with black lettering and design on the cover and gilt lettering on the spine (see photos, as these form part of the description). Very clean copy. Materials: Hard cover, cloth bound, 283 plus viii pages, with tinted frontispiece and a folding map at the back. Size: 20.7 x 14 cm. Item code: 71-kdm-0-Lawson